Packers were reluctant to pay much for fed cattle last week ahead of projections of decidedly short production weeks. With estimates for this week’s production rates ranging widely between 435,000- 480,000 head, and predictions for next week’s standing at 505,000- 545,000 head, packers felt no pressure to collect cattle around them.

The December World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report was released with little fanfare last Tuesday. Though there were some exciting production estimate moves for beef, industry eyes were on corn and soybeans, which held few surprises.

Trade was again shrugged off until Friday last week as only 2,844 cash fed cattle sales had taken place by Thursday afternoon. Analysts had predicted this was likely and expected a steady-at-best market relative to the prior week’s $132 live and $208-210 dressed market.

Thursday, Dec. 5 saw the auctioning of the long-beleaguered Aberdeen, SD, Northern Beef Packers plant. Two groups participated in the auction—Wisconsin-based American Foods Group and California-based investment banking firm White Oak Global Advisors—and it was not the food-related participant that claimed the prize.

“This is really definitely a landmark step,” said Don Gentry, Chairman of the Klamath Tribes which has been a major player in the negotiations. “This is really positive but we have a lot of work to do as we move forward to negotiating a final agreement.

Trade was slow to develop last week ahead and then during the sudden, intense cold weather that gripped most of cattle country. Light purchasing trickled in throughout the week, but by Thursday afternoon the bulk of the week’s trade took place at $132 live and $208-210 dressed, roughly steady with the prior week.

The review—full title, “Impact of grass/forage feeding versus grain finishing on beef nutrients and sensory quality: The U.S. experience”—found that the greater healthfulness of one type of beef or the other depends on how you slice it, metaphorically speaking.

The November Cattle on Feed report came in dead on the pre-report industry expectations. Though many have called it neutral for this reason, Steve Meyer and Len Steiner of CME’s Daily Livestock Report called it slightly bearish..